


out of all places

by revoleotion



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with no happy ending, Character Death, I basically rewrote the ending but the result is the same, season 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-06 23:29:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18861148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/revoleotion/pseuds/revoleotion
Summary: Liam and Scott never took Marcel to the vet. Theo learns his lesson in empathy a season earlier than he actually does.





	out of all places

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LI0NH34RT](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LI0NH34RT/gifts).



The wound got deeper with every step he made. The Surgeon coughed quietly and tasted the bitter mercury on his tongue. The metallic and sharp taste brought tears to his eyes and he wondered when his body would either give into the poison or the stinging pain in his chest. He made another step forward and winced as his worse leg touched the ground. He shifted his weight to the side and swayed dangerously.

The cane. This was the worst time to lose the cane.

He wasn’t sure how many meters parted him and the place where Sebastien had carelessly dropped him. One of the lenses of his mask were broken, so his vision consisted of red and blurry shadows.

Again, the Surgeon stumbled and fell but he caught himself with his hands. He stayed on the ground for a couple of seconds. Whenever he took a breath, the mercury burned his throat. Some of it dripped to the ground and formed a small puddle on the road.

He wouldn’t be able to get up, he thought. He was aware of his injuries. Despite never being a real surgeon, he knew that he was about to die. Either the mercury or the stabbing wound would end him – and considering that he would ultimately be one of Sebastien’s victims strangely satisfied him. Out of all ways and places to die, he had never thought about this. This was the wrong country and the wrong century; if anything, the experiments had taught the Surgeon that he had run after a daydream he would never see in real life. And, if anything, the daydream had turned out to be a nightmare.

The Surgeon turned around until he was laying on his back. The red lenses deformed the night sky but he knew that those were the same stars he had looked up to as a child. Maybe, some of the stars had died by now, but it was still the same moon. For a few seconds, the Surgeon allowed himself to close his eyes. His breath went easier now, as he was resting and accepting his end.

It had been a success. He shouldn’t be afraid to die.

Was he scared to die?

Humans were pathetic creatures who were controlled by dread in their last moments. It was either the fear of leaving something behind or of the inevitable nothingness after death. The Surgeon didn’t believe in heaven or hell. He knew that he had lived longer than it should be possible for any mortal. He left behind the perfect evil and a creature willing to massacre all of humanity. Even willing to murder the Surgeon, the only person who ever stood behind him.

He left behind a success.

Death shouldn’t be scary to him.

And yet… it was. Maybe, because he had never thought about it. A small, annoyingly romantic part of the Surgeon had dreamt of a future with Sebastien. This century didn’t kill people like them. They even talked about marriage nowadays.

The luckier centuries were never meant to belong to him, yet the Surgeon longed after them. Maybe that’s why he dreaded death in this last moments. He had taken a glance at what life could’ve looked like and he had liked what he had seen.

Now, he only saw red and blurry stars above his head. He struggled to remove the mask, so he didn’t; he rested his hands on his chest and gasped as the blood stained his fingertips. The pain startled him awake and he sat up a little. Black dots danced in front of his face and covered the night sky. Mercury burned his tongue and tears burned his face.

“I thought I might find you somewhere,” a familiar voice said. Theo’s words were painted with pain and it took him a while to sit down next to him.

“Did you follow the blood or the mercury?” the Surgeon asked.

Theo made a sound close to a chuckle and leaned backwards. It took him some effort but the Surgeon turned his head to him. The least successful experiment and yet the most useful one looked up to the sky with slight wonder on his face. The Surgeon didn’t care enough about him to find out if he was interested in astrology.

“So… a success,” Theo said. The Surgeon couldn’t tell if there was hate in his voice or not.

“He’s back,” he answered.

“You loved him.”

This wasn’t a question. The blurry red stars blinked at him and the full moon was the same as in 1767. The Surgeon nodded.

“I always thought I get to kill you one day,” Theo muttered and groaned as he touched the wound he got from – had it been Sebastien? Who had done this to him? Did it matter?

“They will defeat him, you know,” Theo added as the Surgeon stayed silent. He closed his eyes again and rested his head on the ground. The mercury dripped from his mask and he didn’t bother to wipe it away.

“They can’t.”

“They’ll find a way. They’re the good guys.”

The Surgeon didn’t have the strength to open his eyes. He moved his head a little to signal that he was still listening. All of sudden, it had become difficult to breathe. He coughed quietly and swallowed the metallic taste of blood. The black dots had turned into tiny lightning bolts in front of his closed eyes. He felt his heartbeat in his head and he could hear it, louder than anything around him.

“It’s almost disappointing to see you go like this,” Theo said. “You won’t be missed.”

Marcel curled his lips and coughed again. “I didn’t intend to be missed,” he whispered.

“Oh, but you did. That’s why you kept me. You said you needed a spy but you could’ve killed me the second I betrayed you.”

“You never betrayed us,” Marcel said.

Theo laughed sarcastically. “How do you know?”

“You just took my pain.”

The pressure of Theo’s fingertips on Marcel’s wound disappeared. The bitterness on his tongue remained and every breath he took spilled more mercury on his ripped clothes. But the pain was gone.

“I don’t care for you.” Theo said it like he meant it. Marcel believed him. Granting him to die without any pain was something different than forgiving him. Marcel didn’t need forgiveness to die.

He breathed in the cold air and slowly breathed out one last time. He thought of any last words but Theo wasn’t the person he wanted to share them with.

And like falling asleep, he fell into the darkness without knowing when it actually happened. A small smile painted his lips behind the mask.

**Author's Note:**

> My friend Imani (who is basically my adopted Theo now and my last brain cell) told me that Theo could've taken Marcel to the vet to heal him and... she's right. I didn't think of it when I wrote it. I'm very sorry but the ending I wrote felt closer to canon.  
> Have a nice day, despite the angst I just threw at you.  
> \- Ben


End file.
